Continuing my reading the Bible in a year…
I can’t say I have carefully read the book of Genesis before. I grew up knowing the basics. The stories and some of the characters. Standard Sunday School fare. I even listened to the bible in its entirety during my commutes to work. Mostly to check it off my list. Bible read, check. Done.
I’ve finished reading the book of Genesis for a bit now. I have been pondering the themes of the book. There are so many. Creation, The Fall, God’s Justice tempered with His mercy, etc. There are so many big and little themes in the book that point us to God’s character. Guideposts to discovering who He is.
I have been discovering new stories and nuances I never noticed before and one theme stood out.
Waiting.
It’s not a glamorous one. It’s not thrilling or exciting. Waiting is slow. Waiting is hard. Waiting is quiet.
Noah waits in the Ark. Waiting for dry land. Waiting to emerge into a new reality with just his family as the entirety of the human population.
Abram, later Abraham waits for his offspring that God promises to Him. Twenty-five years he waits for Isaac. I think about his story a lot. He and Sarah are resigned to childlessness. They even become so impatient that he fathers a child with Hagar. Twenty-five years! With every year that passed, it must have added another layer of impossibility to the promise. Sarah and Abraham both talk about their old bodies. Sarah and Abraham both laugh.
And they wait. The promise is fulfilled. Isaac is born.
Then the story of Jacob, who meets the love of his life, Rebekah, and asks her father to marry her. Laban, her father, says he has to work for seven years before he will give his daughter in marriage. Jacob is tricked into marrying her sister, Leah, and has to work longer. Waiting!
Joseph, who is Jacob’s favorite son is sold into slavery because his brothers were jealous of him. His father believes he is dead. Joseph becomes an important man in his owner’s house and is then lied on. He waits in an Egyptian prison for his rescue.
Waiting.
Jacob finds out his son is alive and waits. He sees him again as God promises.
You see what I mean? Waiting is a theme here.
I started to mull that over. These characters are waiting for a promise to be fulfilled. Part of the answer was wrapped up in the time that passed. Then I wondered, do I wait well?
I have very specific prayers that I have asked God to answer. Yet, when time goes on and I do not see the immediate results I assume it is Him saying no. Never thinking it is Him saying “wait”.
Do I make room for waiting in my relationship with God? Do I have waiting room?
I think in some teachings about God’s character there is the expectation of reciprocated performances. “I did my part, Lord. Now you do yours!” A demand that we move Him. We tell Him what to do. We command God. Crazy, right? The harm in this is that when He doesn’t move the way we command or expect, there are two conclusions. Either “I am doing this all wrong and I have to do it different, better, correctly, louder, bigger, etc.” OR “God does not keep His promises.”
I spent years in this cycle. Years. Never understanding the concept of waiting on a God. Never knowing that in His goodness, waiting can be necessary. I know now that what I needed was waiting room.
I am learning this. Learning what it looks like to faithfully wait. Also learning that the best of us were not so good at waiting well. But it is so good to know that delayed responses are not denied requests. It might just be God bidding us to have a seat, quiet the noise and spend time in the waiting room.